Resigned To Defeat

January 04, 1991

It's a conditioned response now. Localities take a deep breath and hope they will be able to cope with the latest budget cuts wielded in Richmond. Each cutback digs a little deeper, making it all the more difficult to keep hope alive. This time though there was a little compassion shown when public education cuts were announced last week by state Secretary of Education James W. Dyke Jr. There was a 12 percent cap for all reductions and a 5 percent cap on the cuts aimed at the poorest school districts. The cuts totaled $101 million in reductions to state aid for localities.

While it isn't much consolation there is a small measure of relief in knowing Virginia is not alone in its budget balancing conundrum. Twenty-seven other states are slashing budgets and leaving few survivors. Eastern states are facing the brunt of the budget axes with the federal government being blamed for at least part of the problem. Most notable are federal mandates to increase state spending for programs like Medicaid while the states struggle to keep other necessary programs operating.

Most state governors and legislators have reserved tax increases as the absolute last-ditch effort to balance their budgets. Gov. L. Douglas Wilder isn't the only administrator who may eventually be forced to abandon the pledge to keep state taxes at current levels. Analysts say the public will feel the effects of lopping thousands of dollars from programs, across-the-board spending cuts and layoffs in the next few months. Unfortunately for Virginia and its fiscally troubled counterparts, the state of the economy is expected to worsen before it gets better.

Thirteen school divisions in the state, the majority in Northern Virginia, are subject to the largest public education cuts - 12 percent - that will go into effect during the next academic year if the proposal is approved by the General Assembly.

We can only hope that the economy will take a turn for the better. When such time comes, Wilder has promised that funding will be restored to education. In the meantime localities, state colleges and public officials can only brace for the next sweep of the budgeteer's sharp sickle.